Figure 1.-- One Edinburgh troop is a mixed unit, regular and Sea Scouting. The Scottish Sea Scouts wear light blue shirts raher than the dark green shirts Scouts wear. It looks like Sea Scout Cubs wear a light blue shirt just like the older Sea Scouts. There does not appear to ne a special Sea Scout Cub uniform.

We do not know a great deal about specialized Scouting in Scotland. We do know that there are Sea Scouts. We assume there are several Scottish Sea Scout groups, but all we know of at this time is one Edinburgh group. One Edinburgh troop is a mixed unit, regular and Sea Scouting. The Scottish Sea Scouts wear light blue shirts raher than the dark green shirts Scouts wear. There are no Sea Scout Cubs, but the Edinburg group here lets Cubs participate in activities where there are no real danger (on camp - but not encouraged hear the water). Of course all boys must learn to swim and do basic lifesaving. Scouts may join the Sea Scout program at 10 years of age.

Sea Scotting in Scotland

We do not know a great deal about specialized Scouting in Scotland. We do know that there are Sea Scouts. We assume there are several Scottish Sea Scout groups, but all we know of at this time is one Edinburgh group. One Edinburgh troop is a mixed unit, regular and Sea Scouting. Sea scouting is more popular in Edinburgh than Glasgow--nearer the coast.

Uniform

The Scottish Sea Scouts wear light blue shirts raher than the dark green shirts Scouts wear. Sea scouts also have a pullover worn with the belt over it and a lanyard.The pullover can be needed by the water (cold). Uniform trousers have disappeared (most have a kilt for parades). In the 1990s jogging bottoms were popular as they could be pulled on over shorts (casual) when it turned cooler as well as jeans. Black or navy blue were favourite colours for jog bottoms anyway. They are preferred to jeans for Sea Scouts near the water in case they go in (jeans take up the water and can drag you down). When Scouts wore shorts uniform Sea Scouts wore navy blue shorts. They also wore rounded white hats. The uniform had to be distict from the Sea Cadets - run by the Royal Navy for boys 14 and upwards (there are also Air Cadets and Army Cadets).For this reason the Sea Scouts navy blue pullovers, similar to the Sea Cadets ones but without the shoulder patches, have "Sea Scouts" written on the front in white. I don't know the history of this. The more modern pullovers are more like long sweatshirts (similar to the green ones some cub packs wear now). The blue shirts came along later and is really a blue version of the green Scout shirt,

Age

Scouts may join the Sea Scout program at 10 years of age.

Levels

There are no Sea Scout Cubsand Beavers, but the Edinburg group here lets them participate in activities where there are no real danger (on camp - but not encouraged hear the water). Not having the cubs to feed into their Scout troops many Sea Scout troops are now small and operate joint activities with regular Scouts like the Edinburgh troop here. The image here is a bit confusing. The boy at left looks like a Sea Scout because he wears a blue shirt. Actully he is a Beaver. The Beavers are a relatively new idea catering for boys even younger than cubs - under 8. Beavers wear grey jogging bottoms and t-shirts. They are the youngest section of the land scouts. The t-shirts here just happen to be blue - which is what is confusing. They have their own destinctive scarf--blue/white. The land scouts have three sections - Beavers,Cubs,Scouts - the Sea Scouts just the one. As explained below, few boys would have the swimming requirement before primary 5. The boy here is a friend of the piper which is why he is involved with the older Scouts.

Program

Of course all boys must learn to swim and do basic lifesaving. The boys must be able to swim a certain distance. It was 100 yards in the 1960s. I'm not sure what it is now and have the certificate to prove it, before being able to join the Sea Scouts. Most learn at their primary schools but not many get their 100 yard certificate at a young age. That is why you do not see Sea Scout Cubs. The swimming requirement is not there for normal scouts so they can enrol younger boys into Cubs and Beavers. The mixed groups have a mixed program. Many activities they do jointly with the regular Scouts, but then they have boating and sailing activities separate from the regular Scouts.